There’s a reason turbochargers are meant to stay covered. As a device designed to pull massive quantities of air directly into the engine, it would only make sense to keep it protected to prevent any foreign objects from following the current. Unfortunately this car owner had to learn that common bit of knowledge the hard way.

While running a dynamometer test on his faceless vehicle, our friend here chose to ignore the risks of leaving his turbocharger exposed. What should have been a simple dyno run quickly turns into a headache for this owner when the turbo manages to suck up a shop rag off a nearby work bench.

With a fully exposed turbocharger running, what are the chances of that happening?

The rag doesn’t stand a chance, but neither does the turbo as indicated by the strange noises that follow. The few puffs of smoke from the engine probably aren’t a good sign either.

Even though that turbo definitely took a beating and will require a full rebuild, it’s possible the motor wasn’t too dinged up. As cool as it was to see a bare turbocharger in action, we highly recommend this owner invest in some kind of screen or filter for his next tune up.